(The Center Square) — When Gov. Jeff Landry hosted a news conference focused exclusively on expected insurance legislation on Wednesday, many wondered why Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple was not present.
When asked why Temple was hosting his own separate news conference on auto insurance reform on Thursday, Landry said “I have no idea, you’d have to ask him tomorrow.”
Speculations of a disconnect between Temple and Landry turned into confirmation on Thursday, when Temple revealed that he has “not had a conversation with the governor about insurance reform since May 7th of 2024,” adding that he was “curious” why he was not at Landry’s news conference the prior day.
Further, aside from detailing the expected legislation for the coming legislative session, Temple also decided to address the “incorrect” statements made by Landry the day before.
“There were a couple of things that he said that are incorrect, and it’s important to correct those on the record,” Temple said. “If we aren’t on the same page about the problems, we can’t begin to make real progress on the solutions.”
Temple pushed back on Landry’s claim that the state insurance commissioner lacks the authority needed to effectively regulate insurers.
“That simply isn’t the case,” Temple said. “Similar to 29 other states across the country, I have all the authority I need to deny a rate for being too high, and I exercise it.”
He detailed the process his office follows when insurers request rate increases.
“When a company submits a rate filing or rate increase, our actuaries determine if it’s too high, we tell them to reduce it, or it will be denied,” Temple said. “Sometimes they reduce it, sometimes they withdraw the rate, but I don’t approve of rates that are too high. Period.”
Another point of contention: Landry’s suggestion that insurance companies are able to conceal critical information from the Department of Insurance. Temple also rejected that claim.
“Insurers must provide information to the Department upon my request, regardless of whether they have marked it confidential, they have to provide the information, and they do,” Temple said. “I have never had an issue obtaining the information requested and that I needed from an insurance company, and I request a lot of data from them.”
Temple said he welcomed Landry’s commitment to embracing data this session, but cautioned against cherry-picking statistics that support a political narrative.
“At a press conference yesterday, Governor Landry said that because auto insurers have lower loss ratios in Louisiana than they do in states like Texas and Florida, that means insurance [companies] make more money here than they do there. That also is incorrect,” Temple said. “Loss ratios can’t be substituted for profit.”
To support his point, Temple cited data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which he called “the gold standard for insurance data.” He pointed to a 10-year average of underwriting profits for auto insurers in Louisiana versus other states.
“If you look closely, as you can see, insurers have an annual loss of nearly 8% in Louisiana, which is about three times the national average and over twice Texas,” Temple said. “Commercial Auto Insurers do even worse. In Louisiana, they have averaged the loss of over 30% each year, which is five times the national average and over twice as much as Texas.”
Landry responded with a post on social media.
“Commissioner Temple hosted a media spectacle telling citizens he has all the authority he needs to fix our insurance crisis. Well, why hasn’t anything been done?,” Landry wrote. “I’d remind him that we’re not elected by insurance companies or trial lawyers, but instead…by the people who entrusted us to fix this mess. I look forward to the day when our Insurance Commissioner can get on board.”
In 2024, Gov. Jeff Landry blocked legislation tied to the “collateral source” rule—a legal principle that can affect how much money plaintiffs receive in court. The bill aimed to reduce how much trial attorneys could potentially collect in settlements.
Landry defended his veto on Wednesday, saying that the bill “did nothing to address the problem and took the rights away from those who are legitimately injured.”
